Recommendation:

That the L&S Faculty recommend to the Dean approval of the proposal from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication to change its name to the School of Journalism and Media Communication effective Fall, 2007.

Rationale:

On March 31, 2006, the faculty of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication voted unanimously to request that its name be changed to the School of Journalism and Media Communication. This action follows a prior request by the department to become the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2000. The College of Letters and Science's Academic Planning Committee approved that request on May 12, 2000. However, Dean Marshall Goodman, after seeking the advice of the University Committee, determined that U.W. System and U.W.-Milwaukee policies did not authorize such action. In May 2005, the College of Letters and Science faculty approved a policy that allows the creation of a college or school within the college. Based on that action, the department is renewing its request to become a school within the college.

JMC faculty members believe the change to a School of Journalism and Media Communication is an important part of its transformation into a program worthy of national prominence in teaching, research, and service. The name change will help to:

1. increase funding opportunities
2. recognize the type of program that the term "school" indicates
3. attract the best students in the region
4. reflect the changing nature of the field.

Each of these rationales is discussed below.

1. Increase external funding opportunities
   
   JMC has strong fundraising potential. Many possible donors are Milwaukee-area journalists who have amassed significant personal fortunes. The designation School of Journalism and Media Communication would give an impetus to fundraising efforts and would increase the department's standing with potential contributors. Funding in our field tends to flow to schools rather than departments. The most prominent JMC programs in the country, including UWM's, belong to an organization that is named the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.
2. Recognize the type of program that the term "school" indicates
   
   JMC's missions include professional training in addition to academic study. The program prepares students for careers in print journalism, broadcasting, advertising, and public relations while teaching them to think critically about media performance in a democratic society.
   
   JMC's own media outlets include a cable news program, PantherVision, that is distributed throughout southeastern Wisconsin by Time Warner and rebroadcast on Milwaukee Area Transit buses. JMC produces a webcast radio news program, PantherCast. JMC students and faculty have produced award-winning documentaries. And, JMC is starting a web-based newspaper that features the work of its students. Since 2000, JMC broadcast, documentary, and print students have won approximately 50 national, regional, state, and local awards for journalistic excellence. In 2004, PantherVision and PantherCast were named best collegiate newscast in the six-state region by the Northwest Broadcast News Association.
   
   The undergraduate program has grown to be one of the largest on campus. In 1997-1998, JMC had 93 majors. The number, although controlled by selective admissions procedures, is now approaching 300. While the number of majors was tripling, the number of pre-majors in JMC increased from about 200 to more than 500.
   
   The MA program in JMC has approximately 40 students. The graduate program, as described in the department's mission statement, "focuses on research and critical reflection about topics related to the mass media. The intellectual engagement and research skills provided by the program prepare students for doctoral work or for new contributions in the field of mass communication."
   
   JMC faculty members are active scholars who have earned national and international standing. Their books have been published by respected academic publishers and their work continues to be published in some of the leading journals in the field.
3. Attract the best students in the region
   
   Few campuses can offer comparable opportunities for learning in our field. A top-notch faculty, an array of valuable courses, and a large, lively media market make our program highly appealing, but the reasons for choosing JMC at UWM are not as well-known as they could be. Students and those who influence their decisions tend to pay the most attention to journalism and media programs that already have achieved school or college status. About 95 of the 425 American journalism programs are either schools or colleges. The oldest and best-known programs in the Midwest, the ones with which UWM competes for students, are schools or colleges. They include the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the University of Minnesota-School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the University of Iowa-School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Iowa State University Greenlee School of Journalism, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and Illinois State University's School of Communication. The JMC programs at UW-Madison, Illinois State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Minnesota are schools within a college of liberal arts and sciences.
4. Reflect the changing nature of the field
   
   The JMC faculty agrees that "media communication" is a better description of their research and teaching interests than mass communication. Mass communication has become a dated term that refers to the influence of media organizations that try to attract very large, undifferentiated, and presumably passive audiences. The media are not only converging, but also are evolving away from that earlier model. The new media landscape has more emphasis on specialized content for niche markets. Media use is more personal and participatory. Accordingly, one of the leading journals in the field has changed its name from Critical Studies in Mass Communication to Critical Studies in Media Communication.

Programmatic, budgetary and administrative implications

1. Impact on other units. JMC sees only a positive impact on other units at UWM. The School of Journalism and Media Communication will play a significant role in expanding the teaching and research activity of the university and will increase links to other programs. Some faculty members elsewhere on campus study certain aspects of the media within a particular disciplinary context, but JMC is unique in that it brings a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of media communication. JMC's academic goals are to foster knowledge and understanding of media and society through critical, cultural, historical, legal, ethical, or social scientific approaches. Its professional mission is to offer preparation for media careers that are based on sound, ethical practices.
2. Budgetary implications. In accord with L&S Faculty Policy 3.01(1), which states that a designation of a school brings with it no automatic entitlement to additional resources, JMC is not making any special requests for funding a school.
3. Administrative implications. The newly named unit will remain within the College of Letters and Science. The only change would be that the designation "chair" would be replaced by the title "director" of the School of Journalism and Media Communication.

Summary

The designation of JMC as a school within the College of Letters and Science, like the recent decision to change the name of the University Honors Program to the Honors College, is intended to enhance the opportunities to increase external support and to attract high-quality students. A name change will help place JMC on equal footing with comparable programs regionally and nationally.